Saturday, March 3, 2012

Seeking Israeli Investment: Bill Moves before AIPAC

The House Judiciary Committee marked up a bill granting Israeli investors access to the E-2 visa which allows foreign nationals making significant investments to live in the U.S. Rep. Howard Berman spoke on his bill:

I appreciate marking up this bill and moving it quickly very much.

This bill will encourage Israeli business leaders to further invest in the United States. It will lead to the creation of jobs for American workers. The legislative scope is narrow, but when so many Americans are looking for jobs and families are struggling to make ends meet, every little bit helps.

Our Nation will benefit from bringing their business to our shores. The E-2 treaty investor visas will enable the business communities in both countries to increase their bilateral investment flow.

The E-2 investor visa program will strengthen the U.S.- Israeli relationship, boost the American middle class, help grow the economies of both countries.

Rep Gallegly added:

E-2 visas are temporary visas issued to foreign investors who come to the U.S. as executives or supervisors in order to develop and manage their investments.

This is "one of these opportunities where we can work in a bipartisan way to show our support for Israel, but also our support for the American economy."